


Palpitations

by softuris



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bisexual Richie Tozier, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gay Eddie Kaspbrak, M/M, Mentions of Anxiety, Minor Bill Denbrough/Stanley Uris, Reddie, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, Stenbrough, Strangers to Lovers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-30
Updated: 2019-07-30
Packaged: 2020-07-27 04:55:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,276
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20040259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/softuris/pseuds/softuris
Summary: Ever since you’re born, you have a fast heart rate. The only time your heart rate slows and only time you feel calm is when you’re in the presence of your soulmate. But the thing is, you could be in a room full of people and have no idea who is the one destined for you. You have no idea when you’ll find them, but you do have a set time.There’s no such thing as second chances in the soulmate concept. You just take your chance.pal·pi·ta·tion/ˌpalpəˈtāSH(ə)n/nounplural noun: palpitationsa noticeably rapid, strong, or irregular heartbeat.





	Palpitations

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Español available: [Palpitaciones](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20777555) by [pinkmutantpotato](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pinkmutantpotato/pseuds/pinkmutantpotato)

> Slight warning for mentions of a panic attack. Read with caution if that can trigger you.
> 
> If the formatting looks weird on this, I'm sorry. I tried to fix it and I don't know if it worked.
> 
> ALSO: sorry for any mistakes. I didn't proofread since I finished this at six in the morning and I'm exhausted.
> 
> I haven’t seen anybody write this sort of concept so I thought: “Why not?”

Ever since you’re born, you have a fast heart rate. The only time your heart rate slows and only time you feel calm is when you’re in the presence of your soulmate. But the thing is, you could be in a room full of people and have no idea who is the one destined for you. You have no idea when you’ll find them, but you do have a set time. The set time on your inner left wrist consists of how long you have to find them, before your heart gives out from how fast the beats are. And it will kill you. No amount of defibrillator machines or surgery can save you after that. And it will kill your soulmate too.  
It’s a fucked up and cruel situation. Sometimes your soulmate won’t even know it’s coming. They could be going on about their day, when suddenly they feel pain in their chest. Their throat will slowly start to close up on them, and they’ll collapse. Everyone around them will know what happened, and everybody will share remorseful looks. But that only happens to the unlucky ones. You have to try your hardest to search for your soulmate, to figure out everything. If your heart rate slows in a room full of people, wait until people start to leave. If your heart rate starts to go fast again, leave the room and figure out where the source of relief is waiting for you.  
Sometimes people are even so unlucky as to have their soulmates live in a totally different country or state. You won’t even know where they are, until you either eventually find them or your heart gives out. You see, when your heart gives out; it gives you a full profile vision of who your soulmate was supposed to be. It gives you one last look at life before it is completely ripped from your fingertips, leaving nothing to fill the empty spaces between your fingers anymore. There’s no such thing as second chances in the soulmate concept. You just take your chance.  
The thing with Eddie is that he has both asthma and anxiety. Sometimes he overthinks and sends himself into a panic because he thinks his time has run out and he’s dying. It takes multiple hits of his inhaler and one of his anxiety pills for him to calm down again. But that still doesn’t fix his fast heart rate. He hates it. He hates the stupid soulmate concept that has taken over every aspect of his mind, making him not able to be calm and relax like a normal person. It makes him so angry. Angry because he just wants to feel at peace, not like he was under a set control with a planned out love life and time of meeting.  
Most nights he just lays awake in his bed, staring at the timer on his inner left wrist. He watches the time go down more and more, knowing that it could be potentially counting down to either finding love or meeting death. His heart rate had yet to slow down, keeping his mind constantly set in overdrive as his brain blocks out any good possibilities for his life. That is, until he moved to Derry with his mom when he turned fifteen.  
It was like any other day. Fast heart, sweaty palms, teeth chewing on his bottom lip. Until he felt it. He felt the calmness in his chest, his heart slowing down which caused his eyes to widen. He placed a hand on his chest, for a split second wondering if it was just his heart beginning to stop. But it keeps beating. It keeps beating at a slow and steady pace, and Eddie actually smiled.  
Up until now, he hated the soulmate concept. He despised it with every ounce of his body. But now he knew that he did have a soulmate out there somewhere. Somebody was for him, and they were close. _ Wait, holy shit, they’re close. _ That thought made Eddie choke on his drink in the crowded cafeteria and he frantically looked at every other person in the room, trying to scope out his soulmate.  
His eyes stopped on a boy he found attractive. He was tall, thin, brunette. Eddie had a small bit of hope that he was the one. Up until a boy with dirty blonde curly hair walked up next to him and kissed him. Eddie frowned again, looking down. Who could it even be? This room was full of people, but most of them had someone already. Which left Eddie confused.  
While gathering his things, Eddie stood up and slung his backpack over his shoulders. He sighed, and headed out of the cafeteria with disappointment on his face. He was confused, and just wanted to know who he was destined to be with. It was killing him, quite literally too. Glancing at his wrist, he did a double take. ** 02:14:53:05 **. That’s how long he had left. Two days, fourteen hours, fifty three minutes, and five seconds.  
Richie paced his room, his hands flailing as he spoke and ranted about his conspiracies. His best friends, Beverly and Stan, sat on his bed and watched him with amused looks. “I mean, it slowed for like.. Five minutes!” Richie said again, his tone full of irritation. He ran his hands through his curly hair, and sat down on his desk chair with a huff. “So then they were in the cafeteria with us.” Beverly said. “Obviously.” She added.  
Richie rolled his eyes, trying to think of anybody he saw in the cafeteria that didn’t have a partner already. “Everybody was dating somebody else. At least from what I saw. Is my thing broken?” He rambled, overthinking again as he usually did. He looked up, looking at Stan. “Maybe it’s you, and my thing is just broken.” Richie spoke, making Stan laugh. The other boy shook his head, placing his hand over his own heart. “Nope. Still a fast heart rate, and no timer anymore.” Stan replied, patting Richie’s shoulder.  
A full day went by, and it was spent entirely with confused thoughts and lingering glances at random people around both boys. Richie sat with Ben, staring at every person that walked by and keeping his hand over his heart. “Ben, this is impossible! I’m never going to find them.” Richie said, sighing heavily. Looking up from his book, Ben let out a soft laugh at the sight of Richie. “You’re supposed to be studying literature, not people.” He said. Richie flipped him off, showing him the timer on his wrist. “But look! What if I die, Ben? What are you going to do if I die?” He asked.  
Ben sighed and set his book down, turning to face Richie more. “Rich, you’re not going to die. You’re going to find them. You obviously felt your heart slow, didn’t you? They were there, you felt it.” He spoke softly, trying to help Richie feel better. “They’re for sure out there, Richie. And they go to our school. Did you see anybody leave the room before your heart got quick again?” He added, wondering if Richie maybe saw anybody walk out who could potentially be the source. Shaking his head, Richie put his face against the table. “This is hopeless.” He mumbled.  
Eddie laid awake, staring at his wrist intently. ** 00:10:12:32 **. He didn’t have much time left, and something in his gut told him that he wasn’t going to make it. He began to accept his fate, thinking it was going to be the full end of him. He wouldn’t see his mom anymore, he wouldn’t make new friends, he wouldn’t become a doctor, he wouldn’t meet his soulmate. Before he knew it, Eddie had warm tears rolling down his cheeks. He squeezed his eyes shut, praying silently for things to just finally go his way.  
The next morning, Eddie checked the timer again. ** 00:03:41:23 **. He tried to convince his mom to let him stay home from school, anxiety flooding every part of him. But she refused, which surprised Eddie. Usually, she was quick to let him stay home and was already dialing the number for his doctor. But today, she just simply shook her head and kept saying that school was important.  
While cursing under his breath, Eddie walked his way to school. He kept his head down, counting his steps while he walked. And once he got there, he ignored every person he passed and went straight to his homeroom.  
Time seemed to go slower for Richie today. His leg was bouncing up and down, and he felt a bit panicked inside. Everything seemed to be echoed for him, sounds seeming louder and more intensified. He didn’t even know it, but he was having a full blown panic attack while sitting in class. He quickly got up when a wave of nausea hit him, and he ran into the bathroom. He emptied the contents of his stomach into the toilet, flushing it and washing his hands. Richie’s chest was heaving, and he was sweating profusely. He was terrified. This whole feeling was terrible. Soulmates were supposed to be a happy feeling. So why did Richie feel like shit? He wasn’t even excited about the chance to meet his soulmate anymore. His whole brain was a full on constant loop of ‘I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die. I’m gonna die’.  
He stayed inside of the bathroom, too scared to leave. If he was going to die, then he might as well do it in the empty space of the school bathroom instead of a classroom. He figured it would be less scarring for people if it was in there instead, might as well do something nice for them as his final stand.  
With shaky hands, Richie lowered himself to the floor. He sat with his back against the wall, and looked at the stupid and ever so hated timer on his wrist. ** 00:00:01:15 **. He lowered his wrist slowly and gulped, taking a deep breath. He shut his eyes, squeezing them shut tightly as he braced himself for what was going to come. He didn’t even notice he was crying.  
Richie was too distracted with repeating things in his mind, awaiting his fate, that he didn’t even notice the bathroom door open. Or the feeling of his heart slowing down to a calm pace. Richie’s thoughts were interrupted when he heard a soft voice ask him, “Are you okay?” He slowly opened up his eyes and looked up, locking eyes with big chocolate brown ones full of empathy.  
Without answering properly, Richie glanced at his wrist only to see nothing was there. His eyes went comically wide as he looked up at the boy again. “Holy shit..” He mumbled, full of shock. “Do you need water? I can go get the nurse..” The smaller boy spoke, feeling worried for Richie. The other boy was too caught up in his own worry, that he didn’t notice his own heart rate was steady as well.  
Richie shook his head, still gawking at the other male. “Uh, n-no.” He stuttered. “What’s your name?” He asked him. Furrowing his eyebrows, the brunette gave Richie a confused look. “Eddie. Why?” He replied. Richie swallowed thickly, and he let out a shaky breath. “Eddie, can you check your wrist?” Richie asked.  
It was at that moment that Eddie felt it. His eyes went wide with realization and he looked at his wrist, finding the timer was gone as well. “Oh shit..” He breathed out, and Richie nodded. Eddie was too anxious to peak a glance at his wrist since he was in his homeroom, not wanting to see the frightening time waiting for him. But boy, he was not expecting this.  
“Pleasure to meet you, Eddie. Sorry I’m not dolled up for you.” Richie said, trying to add humor to the mix. He stood up, dusting off his pants. Eddie cracked a smile, appreciating the small joke. “Pleasure to meet you too..” Eddie trialed off, and Richie gave him a smile as well. “Richie. Richie Tozier.” He said, holding out his hand for him to shake. Eddie took the taller boy’s hand in his own and he shook it carefully. “Richie. That’s a nice name.” He said softly.  
Okay so, maybe soulmates weren’t dumb after all. And maybe this concept wasn’t so dreadful anymore. Eddie actually felt happy, full on and genuinely happy. And it was all thanks to the set up he used to curse everyday and despise immensely. And Richie, he was finally happy too. He felt peaceful now, knowing he found the one when he thought instead the grim reaper was going to find him and rip him to shreds.  
Eddie met Richie’s friends, and he loved them all. And they loved him back. Beverly spilled out to Eddie all of Richie’s past conspiracies about soulmates, and Eddie would laugh as he listened while Richie tried to cover Beverly’s mouth. “He even said his thing was broken and that his soulmate was me.” Stan chimed in, making everybody in the room laugh now. “I mean, can you blame me?” Richie asked, looking at his friends. Eddie kept a smile on his face, watching Richie try to get his friends to stop exposing him. The smaller boy wasn’t even paying attention anymore, only simply keeping his eyes on his boyfriend.  
Eddie thanked every God out there that his mom had a change of heart and didn’t let him miss school that day. He finally felt peaceful.


End file.
